Surprise Arrival
by Hugh Takinamee
Summary: It's Dawn's birthday. The sad thing about her special day is that she has no one to really celebrate it. Then one day, a familiar face comes home and surprises Dawn. Unbeknownst to the two however, Dawn is in for a real birthday treat! Oh, and there's a Nawn flashback. A BIRTHDAY ONE-SHOT FOR APPLAUZE!


**A/N: Hey guys! It's Hugh here with a brand SPANKING new story!**

 **Now, let me tell you something: I'm writing this because it's an author's birthday. In this case, it's Applauze's birthday. So, for his big day, I'm writing a Dawn fic as a present.**

 **So, Josh aka Applauze, happy 18th birthday! May God give you more years and more birthdays to come!**

 **And without further ado, here it is!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama, yada yada. Bite me. :3**

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It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon in Portland, Oregon. The scenery of Portland looked gloomy and sad, since it was November and rain fell on the city almost every year. Dawn Williams moved out to Portland after she graduated high school to study Conservative Biology at the city's university. When she wasn't studying, she would be working at a high class restaurant in the city's center as a server.

The restaurant's atmosphere was of a modern contemporary look and feel, with a mixture of white and dark wood clashing on the walls, crowned ceilings, modern light fixtures, stainless steel this and classic that.

On that day, she didn't have any classes, which gave her time to work and make some money for herself. What's more, that day was her birthday, but none of her co-workers and staff knew about it, but that didn't bother her from being productive. That day's lunch rush was definitely busy, as it gave her time to not only reflect on what type of customers she worked with, but herself as well.

The lunch rush ended, and the restaurant closed down in preparation for the dinner service. That gave Dawn the perfect time to go out for a drink of tea and catch up with her friends she made from Total Drama. While waiting in line for her drink, she got her first text of the day: it was from Mike and Zoey.

" _Happy birthday, Dawn!"_ was said on the text from the couple. _"More birthdays to come and hopefully we'll come down and visit you down there! -M &Z"_

Dawn texted back. "Thank you, guys!" Once she got her drink, she sat down and looked at who sent her a birthday greeting. But sadly, the only ones she got were from Mike and Zoey, Dakota, her family members and relatives, and some of the cast on Total Drama that greeted her.

Spurred on, she got up, taking her tea with her and decided to walk around the city. The cold and rainy November afternoon helped Dawn clear her mind on her special day. She then stopped by her small but manageable apartment before going back to work. Upon opening the door, she found a card that read ' _Happy Birthday'_ on the front cover and a bouquet of flowers on her table.

"Who got in here, I wonder?" Dawn asked herself. She then opened up her card and revealed a key, a check of a thousand dollars, and a small letter.

 _Hey, Dawn._

 _This is probably the last time I think I'll be entering your home, hence the key you're probably holding right now. I know that I messed up in our previous relationship, and I know you have every right to be angry with me for... well, being a dick, but I hope that you forgive me and still be friends. Anyways, I just stopped by here to drop off the bouquet of roses and write you this note and wish you a happy birthday, Dawn! You're the only person that could understand what I was going through during our relationship, and I'd like to thank you for that. Anyways, I don't want to be much of a bother to you anymore, but I hope that we can still be friends. With that, happy birthday to you, and hope all your wishes come true._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Noah_

She looked at the letter again, glaring at the signature down below. "Noah, how sweet of you," she said to herself. "I'm touched, thank you so much." As she was about to call Noah and thank him for the gift, at that point, the time read 5:00, which meant she had to leave for work. She took her belongings with her and ran back to work.

After a good fifteen minutes of walking, she was already at work, where the restaurant was ready for the dinner service. As Dawn was setting up one of her stationed areas, her boss came up to her.

"Dawn, I'd like a word with you after dinner service, alright?" said the boss with a bit of harshness in his words. The first of the customers came in to the restaurant, signaling the start of dinner service. Dawn thought about what her boss said. Was she going to get fired? Promoted? Any type of reprimanding?

She then ran to the back of the house, essentially where the food is made, and found a certain busboy with a white shirt and spiky ginger hair in the fridge.

"Hey, can I tell you something?" Dawn tapped on the dude's shoulder, scaring him from behind.

Scott shrieked. "Oh, great. What do you want now, moonbeam?" the ginger asked.

"Scott, I just had another aura," Dawn said, giving a light smile.

Scott, however, gave a small sigh. "Great. What is it this time?"

"A particular customer is coming here. Someone that we know, Scott," Dawn sighed.

"Dawn, listen to me. No one from Total Drama is coming to this crap restaurant, alright?" Scott yelled out loud.

"Sheesh, just a thought..." Dawn then turned around and walked away. As she walked away, Scott also walked away.

The night went on smoothly, with customers eating and going home happy. Dawn, on the other hand, was still thinking of the boss's harsh words and her aura. The time now was nine thirty, thirty minutes away from closing. As she was taking a couple's orders, a certain military cadet with a familiar face came into the restaurant, apparently by himself. He was then immediately seated at Dawn's position, a single seat table in the middle of the crowd.

"Good evening, sir!" Dawn greeted the gentleman. "Any drinks for you at this time?"

"Yeah, a Diet Coke please..." the cadet said. "Wait... you look familiar." In Dawn's mind, this was what she thought her aura was.

"Oh, me sir?" Dawn tried to laugh it off.

"Yeah... Dawn, right?" the cadet guessed. "Yeah, it is Dawn! Remember me from Revenge of the Island?"

"Brick MacArthur?" the moonbeam gasped.

"That is correct, ma'am," he smiled. He then got up and hugged her. "How are you?"

"Hold on for a minute," Dawn said. "Let me get your Diet Coke." Less than a minute passed, and Dawn came back with his drink.

"Here you go," Dawn said, giving Brick his drink. "So, what would you like to eat?"

"Can I get a cheeseburger please?" the cadet asked. "Extra pickles and seasoned fries too, ma'am."

Dawn jotted down Brick's order and then ran to the back of the house. She found Scott at the sink, washing dishes and whistling himself a tune.

"Scott, Scott!" Dawn said in a giddy manner. "You will never guess who I found!"

"Who?" Scott asked, pretending not to care.

"It's Brick, from Revenge of the Island?"

"Oh, him. Yeah, tell him I said hi." Scott then washed his hands and took off his apron.

Dawn got Brick's order ready to be delivered to him, in time for the last of the customers to finish up and leave and Dawn to clean up the table next to Brick's. After Dawn dropped the order off, she cleaned up was struggling to get the plates into the back, which made Dawn chuckle. "Need help?"

"No, thank you, Brick," Dawn smiled. "I'm fine."

After Dawn managed to bring the plates to the back, she then sat down in front of Brick, who was enjoying his order.

"I have to say, the burger is really delicious," Brick complimented. "So, how are you, Dawn? How have you been?"

"Never been better," Dawn smiled. "I'm studying at Portland State and planning to major in Conservative Biology. I have a small apartment near the Square, and I obviously work here."

"That's nice," Brick smiled.

"So, Brick, how are you?"

"Right now, I am stationed in Portland for three weeks before going out again for a six month tour in South Korea," Brick explained. "And I just happen to walk by this restaurant because it was getting late and I was hungry," he laughed.

"Well, I'm really glad you came here and stopped by," she smiled lightly.

"Wait, why?"

Dawn's head bowed down, looking as if she was about to tear up. "Well, it is my birthday... and..."

"It is?" Brick was surprised. "Happy birthday, Dawn!"

"But, here's the thing: I feel under-loved," Dawn sighed. "People find me as a creep, you know me, practicing wicca and telling auras, and I thought that people would appreciate it, you know?"

Brick reached his arm across the table onto the moonbeam's shoulder. "Hey, if it means anything to you, no matter what, you'll be loved for who you are, okay?" the soldier reassured.

Dawn smiled as she wiped away her tears with a table napkin, since her black mascara was running down. "Thank you so much, Brick."

"Hey, a soldier is always loyal to his friends," Brick smiled.

At that point, Dawn's boss approached her. "Dawn. A word in the back, please?" She stood up, and followed her boss in the back of the house. A right turn into the kitchen led to a surprise for Dawn.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAWN!" the entire crew shouted.

"Oh my word!" Dawn gasped at the sight she stumbled upon. A large banner hanging in the ceiling, balloons, her coworkers with smiles on their faces sans Scott, and of course, cake. But not just any cake. A vegan cake with a forest-like decoration on top. "Thank you guys so much!" Dawn smiled in glee.

"Well, it IS your birthday, right?" Scott chuckled. "Thought we'd forget?"

"To be honest... yeah," Dawn smiled. "Whose idea was all this?"

Scott guiltily looked around, trying to see who "did" it, which backfired, as the rest of the crew looked and smirked at him. "Fine, it was me," Scott sighed.

Dawn ran up to him and hugged him. "Oh, Scott! Thank you so much for all of this!" Scott, disgusted, had no choice but to let her hug him. "Yeah... can you let go of me? Please?"

Brick then arrived into the kitchen, wondering what the commotion was all about. "What's going on here?"

Dawn had finally let go of Scott and approached Brick. "Hey, Brick! These guys actually threw a party for me! And look at the cake!"

"I can see that, Dawn!" Brick chuckled.

The rest of the night was a blast for Dawn, as she finally got to celebrate her birthday like how a birthday should be celebrated: with laughter and joy with the people close to her. Brick stayed around for a little while since he was loyal to Dawn. And Scott? Let's just say that he got to stick around as well for Dawn's party. It was the most fun that Dawn had in a while and she was grateful for it.

When the party was finally over, Dawn headed back to her apartment for the night, still feeling happy and grateful. As she placed her bag on the couch, she took out a Polarid-esque photo of her and her co-workers, including Scott and Brick. She grabbed a thumbtack from her desk nearby and tacked the picture on her desk near her computer.

"Thank you so very much, guys!" Dawn said to herself. "You made this a memorable day for me. And I will forever cherish it... even until my last dying breath."

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 **A/N: And, there it is! Boy, I have to say that, out of all the one-shots that I've written, this is probably the longest one yet! Who knows, I could be writing an even longer one! XD**

 **So... Dawn, Brick, Scott... and a hint of Noah as a flashback. Interesting. Mind you, there's no real Dott in this story, just a friendship between the two.**

 **Thank you guys so much for reading this! Enjoyed it? Leave a review! Liked it? Favorite it! But for any reason whatsoever, PLEASE don't follow it, since it's just a one-shot. Up to you.**

 **On that note, Josh aka Applauze, if you're reading this, again, I wish you a very Happy Birthday! May God guide you and give you more birthdays to come!**

 **Thanks so much, once again for reading, and as always... DEUCES! :P**


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